The search for the once-missing mother Jessica McCreery and her baby has now turned into a child-neglect case, and authorities are using all resources "to hunt them down," according to Altamonte Springs police.

A judge has signed an order to take 7-month-old Penelope Hogarth into custody for medical treatment, Altamonte Springs police Officer Robert Pelton said Friday evening.

"Jessica is believed to be on the run with Penelope, who needs medical attention," Pelton said. "We were hoping this order wouldn't be issued."

Pelton said McCreery had until 4 p.m. Friday to provide documentation that Penelope had been examined by a doctor; that had not happened.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Seminole County Sheriff's Office "are vying for resources to hunt them down" to make sure Penelope is examined by a doctor, Pelton said.

Jessica McCreery, mother of baby Penelope, with her attorney Mark O'Mara, speaks to the media Tuesday, June 9, 2015, after appearing in front of a Seminole County judge on probable cause for keeping baby Penelope Hogarth in state custody.

(Joe Burbank)

Authorities have been in contact with the mother's attorney, Mark O'Mara, who is cooperating and has been trying to make sure Penelope was looked at by a doctor.

Doctors who have looked at pictures of Penelope agree "she's in grave danger," Pelton said.

McCreery may have left the area with the infant because she was concerned about Seminole County child-protection workers taking her baby, O'Mara said earlier Friday.

Authorities began searching for 21-year-old McCreery and the baby earlier this week after they vanished from a rental house in Altamonte Springs that Penelope's father, 46-year-old David Hogarth, used to grow marijuana, police said.

High-profile lawyer Mark O'Mara said once-missing mother Jessica McCreery may have left the area with baby Penelope Hogarth because she was concerned about Seminole County child-protection workers taking her baby.

High-profile lawyer Mark O'Mara said once-missing mother Jessica McCreery may have left the area with baby Penelope Hogarth because she was concerned about Seminole County child-protection workers taking her baby.

But O'Mara said Friday afternoon that he talked with McCreery, and she was in "good spirits," and they are in the process of getting Penelope checked out by medical professionals.

"I don't believe there's any reason for anyone to get involved with caring for Penelope except the parents," O'Mara said.

O'Mara sent the photos of McCreery and Penelope to Altamonte Springs police Thursday evening.

Pelton said investigators are relieved McCreery and Penelope are alive, and officers are working to officially close their missing-persons case.

Right now, the main focus is having an officer check out Penelope and making sure the baby is in good health, according to Pelton.

"We feared the worst," Pelton said, "but we got a great sigh of relief when we saw this photo."

After police see the baby and McCreery, they will close the missing-persons investigation.

Pelton, without being specific, said "other services" will follow up on concerns regarding Penelope living in the home with Hogarth's alleged grow house.

Location unknown

Police launched a search for the woman and her baby Tuesday, when officers followed up on a tip that Penelope was malnourished when child-welfare workers initially went to their rental home May 5.

McCreery and her child were missing, and Hogarth reacted belligerently to police, who said they detected a marijuana smell and later found pot plants growing in a secret room inside their Altamonte Springs rental.

O'Mara said the baby's parents may have religious convictions against vaccines, and that might help explain why Penelope hasn't been examined by medical professionals since birth.

She wasn't born in a hospital. Police aren't sure where McCreery gave birth.

It is unclear where the child-welfare investigation stands, as neither O'Mara nor police have said where McCreery and the baby are.

"I don't think this child, from what I can tell, needs to be taken away," O'Mara said.

The child-welfare agency in Seminole County is run by the Sheriff's Office and is called Child Protective Services.

If the baby doesn't get checked out and remains outside Seminole, the parents' and child's information can be entered into a national law-enforcement database, Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Kristen Bentsen said.

"If law enforcement then makes contact with either the parent or the child, our agency would be alerted," Bentsen said.

Seminole's CPS would then work with the child-welfare agency there to make sure the child is evaluated and being properly cared for, she said.

CPS has options

Orlando criminal-defense lawyer Richard Hornsby said if McCreery and the baby do come back, there are several options CPS could be considering.

Hornsby said child-welfare officials will probably evaluate Penelope's health and determine whether she actually is malnourished.

If officials determine she is, both parents could then face child-neglect charges, Hornsby said, and the baby would temporarily be placed in state custody.

In a case like this, Hornsby said child-welfare officials would typically put the family on a provisional plan, which could include requiring the baby to see a doctor and comply with government services.

The parents would be able to keep the baby as long as they follow the plan, Hornsby said. But if they don't, then Penelope would most likely be placed with another family member or back in state custody until her parents can prove they will properly care for her.

As for any charges related to the search, Hornsby said it will be hard for police to charge McCreery with obstructing their investigation unless they can prove she knew officials were looking for her and hid anyway.

Hornsby said it would be even harder for police to charge Hogarth with that because it's not illegal to simply not cooperate.

"Simply not providing information is not enough," Hornsby said. "But if they find out that he instructed her to hide from law enforcement, that could be grounds to charge him with obstruction."

Pot found, cops say

When police went to the couple's home Tuesday following up on the CPS tip, Hogarth refused to let anyone inside and wouldn't answer questions about McCreery and the baby's location, Pelton said.

At one point, Hogarth told officers "you'll never find" the pair, and made other alarming statements, Pelton said.

His uncooperativeness, along with "no evidence" that a baby even lived in the house — a stark comparison to when child-welfare workers visited the home May 5 and saw a crib and baby food through a window — made officers fear McCreery and the baby were in danger, Pelton said.

Officers then smelled a "strong" scent of marijuana and got a search warrant to go through the house.

Inside, they found a false wall at the doorway to the master bedroom that was hiding about a dozen 8-foot-tall marijuana plants, police said.

Hogarth was arrested on charges including growing marijuana and child neglect without bodily harm, police said.

He was released Wednesday afternoon from the Seminole County Jail on bail.

When asked about Hogarth's criminal charges, O'Mara said: "We'll see what happens with that. I haven't been retained for that."

Child-welfare experts who examined recent photos of Penelope are concerned the baby is suffering from failure to thrive, a term that generally means insufficient weight gain.

Police think the baby weighs 10 to 13 pounds. An average 7-month-old could weigh 17 pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reports conflict about whether Penelope was born in a home in Altamonte Springs or an apartment in the Orlando area, Pelton said, but she was not born in a hospital.

Pelton said no medical professional has ever seen or treated Penelope, and she does not have a birth certificate or registration for a Social Security card.